My first hand post, feedback on my play greatly appreciated.

[Cliffer]

This is my first post on this forums, and also pretty new to NLHE, will appreciate some feedback on how I played this hand. I'm not running PokerTracker so I don't have any past history of the SB's playing style to refer to.

Full Tilt Poker, $0.05/$0.10 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 8 Players

SB: $7.20
Hero (UTG): $11.50
MP2: $2

Pre-Flop: K[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] Q[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] dealt to Hero (UTG)
Hero raises to $0.30, 2 folds, MP2 calls $0.20, 2 folds, SB calls $0.25, BB folds

Flop: ($1) Q[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] 7[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] Q[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] (3 Players)
SB checks, Hero bets $0.40, MP2 folds, SB calls $0.40 (Small bet here, hoping to build pot.)

Turn: ($1.80) J[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] (2 Players)
SB checks, Hero bets $0.90, SB calls $0.90

River: ($3.60) 2[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] (2 Players)
SB checks, Hero bets $1.40, SB raises to $2.80...

I definitely feel like I'm beat with the SB's min raise for value on the river. Should I have just checked down the river if I'm afraid of the AQ, or should I have value bet in case he had something like AJ?

[Unknown Soldier]

[ QUOTE ]
(Small bet here, hoping to build pot.)

[/ QUOTE ]

makes no sense.

[Cliffer]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
(Small bet here, hoping to build pot.)

[/ QUOTE ]

makes no sense.

[/ QUOTE ]

My thinking was that if someone had just called with a small pp or even AK, then I want to make it seem like I'm just making a probing c-bet and hadn't hit anything. Do I make any sense with this line of thinking?

If not, what should I really have contemplated?

[Unknown Soldier]

I understand exactly what you wwere thinking, it is a common mistake i see in alot of new players to the game, but here's what your thought process should be:

big hand = big pot so bet big.



o/w you lose value, they'll call so much anyway, deception is pretty pointless at 10nl. betting small with big hands is bad.

[Cliffer]

Thanks for making it clear.

What about the river? Could I have checked it down in the first place?

[Unknown Soldier]

checking is soooo bad. you have trips d00d! so tempted to shove for value, but i'd just call.

[ama0330]

[ QUOTE ]
Thanks for making it clear.

What about the river? Could I have checked it down in the first place?

[/ QUOTE ]

Dude. You have TRIPS. With a very good kicker. You have the best hand here almost always.

Remember that usually, the money won't get in the pot unless you put it there. You should be betting more on all streets, especially the flop. On the river, you should be looking to get all your money in as far as I am concerned.

[Dr_Doctr]

You definitely have a weak-tight mentality which is common for new players and somewhat hard to shake. A lot of new players think that Tag just means play tight - they forget about the 'ag' part - which at NL10 equates to getting lots of money in the pot when you have a big hand. Checking behind on this river would be a huge mistake - and in my opinion you should be shoving over this min-checkraise for value unless you have a read that the opponent is competent. Assume your opponents will do random stuff with random cards until shown otherwise at NL10 - only when they have shown some sign of having a clue what they're doing should you adjust.

[Cliffer]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Thanks for making it clear.

What about the river? Could I have checked it down in the first place?

[/ QUOTE ]

Dude. You have TRIPS. With a very good kicker. You have the best hand here almost always.

Remember that usually, the money won't get in the pot unless you put it there. You should be betting more on all streets, especially the flop. On the river, you should be looking to get all your money in as far as I am concerned.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks for the advice, but as far as getting all the money in, here's my confusion.

If I had bet more aggressively on all streets, the opponent pretty much knows what I have with 2 Queens on the board. If I shove, he'd pretty much only call with a hand that can beat me, no? With any other hands he'd probably fold. So where does the expectation value of shoving come in?

[Cliffer]

[ QUOTE ]
You definitely have a weak-tight mentality which is common for new players and somewhat hard to shake. A lot of new players think that Tag just means play tight - they forget about the 'ag' part - which at NL10 equates to getting lots of money in the pot when you have a big hand. Checking behind on this river would be a huge mistake - and in my opinion you should be shoving over this min-checkraise for value unless you have a read that the opponent is competent. Assume your opponents will do random stuff with random cards until shown otherwise at NL10 - only when they have shown some sign of having a clue what they're doing should you adjust.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hi there,

I'm definitely a weak tight player working on trying to figure out the spots that I should extract more value from. In this case, I'm not running any fancy software that tells me the play of my opponents, but he does play a fair amount on FTP judging by his ironman medal at the table. That's about the only sign of his caliber as far as I can possibly observe. That's why when he min-raised me I immediately felt it was a raise for value on his part.

Thanks so much for clarifying what I should have done. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]